Art: Tower Builder

The most discussed exhibition in Italy last week was of 94 landscapes
and cityscapes signed "Francesco Torri." It was not the quality of the
paintings that made talk, though they were pretty good. Unpretentious
sketches of pleasant spots for a picnic or an apéritif, the canvases
were simple in composition and glowing in color. They were the work of
a man, one critic had averred, "who knows his trade."

Torri's trade is rayon textiles. He is head man of gigantic and
world-famed Snia Viscosa (40,000 employees). He signs himself "Torri"
(Towers), he explained, because he has built three towering structures:
an office...